Mass Effect: Council's Redemption
by Topshoteffect
Summary: The Council believed Shepard, and started to secretly prepare 2 years early. With Cerberus working with the Alliance, they became the premier military power in the galaxy. Will the extra time help the council races prepare, or just worsen the casualties? Rated M for violence and possible sex scenes. Shepard/Miranda Kaiden/Jack Ashley/Jacob pairings
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all, yes, I am still alive. Yes, I am still writing. No, I am not sane. Now, all that aside, I am trying to get back into this. No deadlines and no word promises so I don't feel pressured. If you like this story, please leave a review and let me know. Now, here is the first chapter of the Councils redemption.**

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As soon as he heard the hiss, John knew he was in trouble. "Suit rupture detected, Pressure: 90%" Every Spacers worst nightmare was to have a suit rupture, and John got to live the experience. As he spun helplessly, he glanced at the Normandy just in time to watch his ship explode. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this mess, when only 2 weeks ago, everything was going so well.

-2 Weeks ago-

John took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Overhead, the stars stared back at John, reassuring him that every thing was right in the world. Suddenly, John felt someone move next to him. When he turned his head, his nose was tickled by a mass of black hair. Slowly, the memories of last night returned. Her coming up to his room, confessing his fears to her, both falling into his bed. John put his head back down as she snuggled closer, pressing herself into him.  
Carefully, John extracted himself from the bed, and walked over to the shower. As he was scrubbing his hair, the shower door opened, and a pair of arms encircled his waist. "Trying to shower without me?" John smiled as he turned to face Ashley Williams. Gunnery Sergeant, lone survivor of the 212th on Eden Prime, and now, the love of his life. Ashley was more then a crewman, and everyone could see how happy the two were together. John smiled, and leaned in to kiss her. When they finally came up for air, Ashley just grinned. "Behave commander, we drop in 4 hours and you need to shower." And with that, Ashley stood, grabbed her clothes, and walked from the room. John smiled and shook his head. He stretched, and grabbed a towel, making his way to the shower as well.

-Present time-

A beeping brought Shepard out of his memory. With a glance, the commander saw that his oxygen reserve was down to 20%. John glanced around to see if there were any escape pods nearby. When none were visible, he reached to grab the loose hose. While gasping for breathe, the commander struggled to reach the hose. Just as his hand brushed the hose, he noticed his vision growing darker. With one last effort, he reached out, and grabbed on to the squirming oxygen hose. He plugged the hose back into his suit. "Oxygen hose, reconnected: Attempting pressurization." John relaxed and waited for air to start to flow again. And waited, and waited. A glance down confirmed the worst had happened. While he had managed to plug the cable back in, all of the air had left his reserves. John had one thought before he passed out. _Ash is going to kill me._

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"We're at war. No one wants to admit it but Humanity's under attack. One very specific man might be all that stands between Humanity and the greatest threat of our brief existence. We need a leader, and Shepard. No one else can unite the galaxy behind the humans. Surround him with the best, brightest, the toughest, the deadliest allies we can find. The team will have to be strong, their resolve unquestionable. He is unique. Not just in terms of what he has accomplished, but what he represents. He is the future of humanity, and his success is humanities success." Jack took a drag of his Arcturan cigar as Miranda Lawson, his second strolled in, reading a datapad. " The Council will never trust Cerberus, they'll never accept our help. No matter how much we have given them. Even after everything humanity has accomplished. But Shepard, he is there spectre. He saved them without sacrificing a single ship. He's a hero, a bloody icon...but he's just one man. What if we lost him?" Jack put down his drink and stared at the datapad. "Bring him in. Give him the fleet. We need to prepare for the Reapers, and if the council won't help, then Humanity must prepare." Miranda stared, shocked at how much The Illusive Man had just thrown behind one man. "How do we know that he won't betray us to the council? Or to the Alliance? We can't trust him!" As he stared out of the window of cronos station, Jack Harper came to a decision that would shake the future of the galaxy. "Send our agents on the Kilimanjaro an alert, and have him give Hackett our fleet numbers and assault base positions. We need to throw everything in with Shepard if we want Humanity to win this war." Miranda stood still for a moment, believing her boss to be joking before she nodded and walked back to the door. As she was drafting the message on her omni tool, a soldier ran in, and stopped before The Illusive Man. "Sir, Shepard is dead." Miranda had never seen her boss stutter, pause, or even look surprised. So when his cigar fell from his hand, she was shaken. He stood, and walked towards the window. "Which system was the Normandy attacked in?" The soldiers helmet moved slightly, as if talking over comms. "Amanda system, Omega Nebula sir." He turned, facing the soldier, gazing at him for a moment, before glancing at Miranda. "Go, take the 2nd. Bring the body back. We have work to do and a Shepard to prepare for. Trooper, call the shipyards, get them cranking out ships as fast as we can." Jack Harper sat in his chair, and pulled up a vidscreen. As the screen showed in progress, he pulled out a second cigar, taking a deep drag as the screen showed a grizzled human in an Alliance uniform. "Admiral Hackett, we need to talk."

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 **All sanity aside, I hoped I wrote the wondrous Illusive Man decently. First Crack at it, and at Shepard death. Well, time to figure out where to go from here. Let me know if you want some pictures of the preparations the Council races go through in the 2 years, or just want to get back into the bulk.**


	2. Update

Hey, I am switching to a new file, as my email has been compromised. New tag is Massuser, and the story is up there. Next chapter should be out soon.


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